HR Shared Services: A Fresh Look

By Bill Roberts. There is nothing like a recession to demonstrate the efficacy of shared services as a delivery model for human resources (HR) administrative processes. Organizations experienced with HR shared services find the model efficiently handles day-to-day administrative transactions, including delicate issues such as the paperwork aspects of layoffs, thus freeing staff to focus on the myriad morale and other talent-related issues caused by economic downturn.

At Henkel of America Inc., for instance, HR shared services was essential before the recession, and it is even more so now, says Thomas DuFore, senior vice president of HR. The Rocky Hill, Conn.-based company that includes Dial Corp. is the North American operation of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, in Düsseldorf, Germany, which makes products for home care and personal grooming in addition to consumer and industrial adhesives and sealants.

“Shared services provides the platform for a uniform response to restructuring efforts, and it performs the administrative functions,” DuFore says. “This allows the HR generalists and the management teams to focus on the relationships with the workforce and to ensure our actions reflect our corporate values.”

DOWNLOAD the whitepaper here!